The invention relates to a connector, comprising a body of electrically insulating material, contact members fitted in the body, and an outer conductor fitted around the body, the body being provided at a contact side with one or more contact holes for receiving signal pins of a complementary connector and contacting them with the contact members, the outer conductor being provided with one or more strip-type contact springs extending along the connector for contacting earth pins of the complementary connector, the contact springs being made integral with the outer conductor, and an edge of the outer conductor lying at least in the vicinity of the contact side of the body. Such a connector is known from European patent application EP 0,446,980.
The connector known from the above-mentioned European patent application is provided with contact springs extending in the lengthwise direction of the connector, for contacting the earth pins of the complementary connector. These contact springs are made from the material of the outer conductor by making incisions in said outer conductor in the lengthwise direction, said incisions extending from the edge of the outer conductor lying at the contact side of the connector. This produces a contact spring which is connected to the outer conductor by its end facing away from the contact side, and of which the end lying at the contact side is free. The free end is bent over a short distance in the direction of the contact hole, in order to simplify the mechanical contact with the earth pin in question when joining together the complementary connector and the connector. In order to obtain a good contact with the earth pins, the free end of this known contact spring lying at the contact side is bent upwards slightly relative to the outer conductor, so that the contact spring as a whole has a bent shape, with the result that a satisfactory spring action is obtained.
The above-mentioned design of the contact spring of the known connector has, however, the disadvantage that incisions have to be made in the outer conductor in order to form the contact spring. Due to the fact that the contact springs are bent away from the outer conductor in order to obtain a spring action, the incisions are enlarged to longitudinal slits, which therefore extend on either side of each contact spring between said contact spring and the outer conductor.
When such a connector is used, energy will be radiated out from said longitudinal slits. This is a disadvantage in particular in the case of high signal frequencies, for example of the order of magnitude of 1 GHz. The energy loss which this involves in the connector results in an impedance mismatch. As is known, an impedance mismatch in a signal line produces undesirable phenomena such as reflections of the signal. The occurrence of reflections results in distortion of the signal received.